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Jones proves healthy, productive in return to field

3/15/13: Garrett Jones bloops a single into left field to give the Pirates the first run of the game

By Tom Singer
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MLB.com |

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- Garrett Jones was healthy and a factor Friday in his first game action since missing more than a week with tightness in his left side.

Jones, who had not played since reporting tightness following the Bucs' March 6 game against the Red Sox, played the first six-plus innings of Pittsburgh's 3-2 win against the Astros on Friday, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and two singles.

Jones drove in the Bucs' first run, sending a blooper barely above shortstop Tyler Greene's head, flew out to the left-field wall in the fourth and dropped a single into center in the seventh, when manager Clint Hurdle lifted him in favor of Josh Harrison as a pinch-runner.

"He felt fine. He was able to get the innings in on the field and get the at-bats," Hurdle said. "He drove the ball real well to left-center and found the grass a couple of times."

Tom Singer is a reporter for MLB.com and writes an MLBlog Change for a Nickel. He can also be found on Twitter @Tom_Singer. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.